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Help with my Zoanthids

J

jceli728

one of my small colonies started to closed up and have slowly been dieing off, half of it of gone now. I haven't made any changes to my tank all water parameters are fine nothing has change.

What can I do? I don't want the rest of my colonies to die.
 
D

DaveK

When it comes to keeping corals or coral morphs like zoanthids, water quality and lighting are everything.

Just because your test kits do not show a problem doesn not mean you don't have one. I suggest making water changes using the best quality salt you can get until you have changed about 90% of the water. This usually needs about 6 water changes fo 30% or the water.

Lighting is the other big factor. When did you last change your bulbs? Are you using too much light? Zoanthids of do not like very intense MHs.

A few other areas to check are "chemical warfare" with other corals, and possible livestock eating or bothering the zoanthids.

With a little luck you should be able to get them growing nicely for you.
 
P

pnoyreefer

Dieng off? meaning just melting away or are you seeing a fungus over it?.. If its melting away sometimes there is no answer for it. if its fungus try Furan2. if you need one let me know I have some..
 
blange3

blange3

Another area to investigate is nudibranchs.

Zoas are the favorite lunch of some parasites.

Here's some light reading on RC
 
J

jceli728

DaveK

my bulbs are PC's all the bulbs are about 6 months old. as far as water quality i think my water should be good. I do a 25% water change every 2 weeks using tropic marin salt mix, but I'm going to try to do a 25% water change every week for the next 4 weeks. The only thing that I could think bothering the zoas is maybe the hermit crabs I have seen them over them a couple of times but I don't see that to be the reason. I keep some LPS with my softies but none are near my zoanthids and I'm also running carbon all the time.

pnoyreefer

I don't know if is fungus, each polyp just shrunk and been dieingoff. what's the process with Furan 2? is the same as described here http://www.zoaid.com/articles004.php
 
J

jceli728

I don't think I have nudibranchs but I will keep an eye on it. this has only affected half of one of my colonies, the other half is doing fine and looking great. I think is just weird.
 
blange3

blange3

jceli728 said:
I don't think I have nudibranchs but I will keep an eye on it. this has only affected half of one of my colonies, the other half is doing fine and looking great. I think is just weird.
Click to expand...

If you do a dip on one of the colonies you will see the dead nudis if they are the cause.

How often do you change the carbon?
 
P

pnoyreefer

Yes its the same thing as what zoaid.com.

This is from my personal experience and not telling you to try it...If I have zoas that dont open I dip it in FW and get a turkey blaster.Blow it off and I can say 80% comes back to life and 20% still dies on me...

Also as Bill suggested look for a nudi .. you will not see them cuz they tend to blend on the color of the zoas...

anyway keep us updated as for me .. I gave up buying zoas....
 
qwik

qwik

I know just how you feel, I am watching my favorite colony do the same thing . Like Steve(pnoy) said there are times when nothing helps .Zoo's are weird like that, all can be fine and then one colony just starts to melt,all param's the same and no other colony shows any sign of stress .
If the colony is big enough try to frag it and put a few frags in different areas. With any luck you might be able to save one frag and regrow from there.
 
magic

magic

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
jceli728 said:
DaveK

my bulbs are PC's all the bulbs are about 6 months old. as far as water quality i think my water should be good. I do a 25% water change every 2 weeks using tropic marin salt mix, but I'm going to try to do a 25% water change every week for the next 4 weeks. The only thing that I could think bothering the zoas is maybe the hermit crabs I have seen them over them a couple of times but I don't see that to be the reason. I keep some LPS with my softies but none are near my zoanthids and I'm also running carbon all the time.

pnoyreefer

I don't know if is fungus, each polyp just shrunk and been dieingoff. what's the process with Furan 2? is the same as described here http://www.zoaid.com/articles004.php
Click to expand...
Your PCs need to be changed. Life expectancy is 6 months.
 
J

jceli728

I've had my pc's for about 6 months now, I'm looking towards replacing my fixture but I have been very undecided for months now if to go with T'5's or MH's.
 
J

jonathan.

This really sounds like alleopathy if you ask me.

Try running some Poly Filter instead of the carbon. Frankly, it should replace carbon in most reef tanks anyway if you ask me. It's a bit more expensive, but you get the results that you pay for.
 
blange3

blange3

Alleopathy is a possible cause.

Carbon works fine if you change it on a reqular basis.

Jceli how often do you change the carbon, how much do you use and how is the tank water processed through the carbon?
 
J

jceli728

I really don't know what happen with that colony ??? Half of it just melted away and the other half is doing great. I have several other zoa frags in the tank and they are all doing great.

I use a TLF reactor with carbon from the group buy. I always fill 2/3 of it using a maxijet 400 to pump the water, and adjust the valve till I see the top of the carbon kinda of just floating after the carbon has settle to the bottom of the reactor, carbon changes every 15 days....
 
blange3

blange3

jceli728 said:
I really don't know what happen with that colony ??? Half of it just melted away and the other half is doing great. I have several other zoa frags in the tank and they are all doing great.

I use a TLF reactor with carbon from the group buy. I always fill 2/3 of it using a maxijet 400 to pump the water, and adjust the valve till I see the top of the carbon kinda of just floating after the carbon has settle to the bottom of the reactor, carbon changes every 15 days....
Click to expand...

Sounds good on the carbon.

I would dip that colony. IF everything else is OK it's unlikely that it's parameter related.

Is there another coral close enough to that section to be attacking it?
 
J

jceli728

No, there is nothing close to it. I wasn't able to dip it because this colony was growing in one of my large rocks, these zoas are my first and only pay 2 bucks for the frag "NOT THE BEST LOOOKING" my only concern was that whatever it was it will not affect my better looking zoas.

The half of the colony that was not affected is doing great and spreading again.
 
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